Virginia Road Trip!

I love a road trip, so when a few weeks ago the Virginia Tourism Board invited me down to explore a little pocket of their beautiful state I couldn't say no. It all started with dinner at the James Beard House that celebrated Virginia's food and wine scene with a handful of Virginia's chefs, each representing their region. I may or may not have eaten my weight in the perfect oysters they served that night. 

Then a few days later Pete, Arlo the dog, and I packed up a car and headed down to Virginia to explore and enjoy some time out of the city. We were excited and apprehensive about the our first road trip with Arlo, but he was such a champ in the car and didn't destroy anything in the hotel rooms, ha! Early October was such a nice time to visit too. The air was still a little warm, but cool at night and the leaves were just starting to change colors. We had such a nice time, and ate so much good food - check out the links below to see where we went!

CHARLOTTESVILLE

We arrived in Charlottesville after a 9 hour (due to lots of puppy stops) drive and checked into the The Graduate which was cozy, comfortable, and dog friendly. The lobby coffee shop also served la Colombe, which was a big A+ Lots of the staff smiled warmly at our pup and asked to pet him which made us feel at ease right away, and Arlo loved sprinting down the carpeted hallways - something he doesn't get to do at home because our floors are too slippery :) - and walking through the UVA campus. 

We wandered around Charlottesville the next morning and found ourselves at Three Penny Cafe where the benedicts come with local duck eggs (!) and they serve delicious pastries from Marie Bette. The sticky bun we had was so good I made Pete walk to the bakery with me, right after breakfast, so we could try some more treats.

That afternoon we met up with Adrianna, Claire, and their dudes then headed to Free Union Grass Farm for a dinner hosted by Outstanding in the Field. I have always wanted to attend a dinner at their long table, and it did not disappoint. The food and wine were incredible, the setting beautiful, and the company wonderful. The main course was a beef shank, which, well if you haven't seen before is a sight to behold. We also got to tour the farm and learn about their farming practices which was a great way to start the evening. Pete and the pup couldn't come to the farm so we went for a late night snack and drink at Oakhart Social when I got back to Charlottesville. 

On the way out of town we grabbed some biscuits from JM Stock (fluffy biscuit, tasso ham, hot honey, butter, heaven) to-go, and I picked up a bottle of the Potter's Farmhouse Cider that we were all obsessed with at dinner the night before. We walked around the Downtown Mall for a bit then hit the road to our next stop - Richmond!

Richmond

We stayed at the Quirk Hotel which was so wonderful! They have an art gallery and cute little shop next door, great restaurant, roof top bar, and everything is beautifully and thoughtfully designed. Even the coffee cups were seriously gorgeous. The lobby was also super cozy and inviting, it was such a nice place to hang and have coffee in the morning and a drink in the evening.

Some more spots we loved in Richmond: 

Saison Market - Coffee in the morning and frozen Negronis and fried chicken sandwiches and tacos in the afternoon, yes please and thank you very much! 

Lamplighter Coffee - Great coffee, multiple locations. I bought some beans to take home and am sad that they are gone now :(

JM Stock - (again!) We stopped into their Richmond location in the Fan to grab some snacks before wandering Belle Isle for the afternoon. No biscuits this time though :) but only because we had Early Bird Biscuit Co. on the docket for the next morning. I had the special sandwich which was "loaded baked potato" and Pete had a biscuit with gravy. It was ridiculously good in that "stays with you all day" kind of way. 

Rappahanock - We had the pup with us so we ate on the patio next door to the main restaurant which serves limited menu, and the seafood was totally delicious. We had a pile of peel and eat shrimp, some good and funky east coast oysters, ceviche, caviar, and some great locally brewed beers . 

Maple and Pine - (in Quirk Hotel) We indulged in a little room service breakfast one morning - one of my favorite things to do when traveling - and the food from Maple and Pine was great. The yogurt parfait had verjus sorbet on top, so fancy!

Rooftop bar at the Quirk - Great cocktails and bar snacks with the best rooftop view of Richmond.

CanCan Brasserie - A fun, casual spot in Carytown with solid classic bistro food and a great patio for people watching. We closed the place down talking to the servers about dogs, haha. 

Steady Sounds - Pete bought all of their jazz piano records, and I grabbed a copy of Whitney Houston's first album so everybody won :)

Subrosa Bakery - We didn't actually make it here, not enough time :( but we enjoyed their bread at a couple of restaurants and wish we had! 

We stopped at Hollin Farms on our way back to NYC, and I am SO glad we did. It was the most beautiful farm on a little hilltop with a gorgeous pick-your-own pumpkin patch and apple orchard. They also had dig your own peanuts! and potatoes, and some greens too. Another thing worth mentioning is that they use Integrated Pest Management in their fields which makes me feel much better about eating fruit straight from the trees. 

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I can't say enough good things about this trip. I was just so impressed and surprised by Virginia's commitment to really celebrate their farmers and heritage cuisine. Just about every place we visited made some reference to where their produce and meat was coming from - not in an over the top Portlandia kind of way, but rather in a subtle proud way that these are all of the things our beautiful state has to offer.

We had the pup with us, and honestly were only slightly limited in the spots we could eat. It seemed like every restaurant had a dog friendly patio and the weather was warm enough to hang outside which was so nice!

A note about routes - If you are traveling from the NYC area to Virginia, I highly recommend taking I-81. The drive was beautiful, scenic, and fairly traffic free :) 

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Disclosure: Thank you so much to Virginia Tourism for inviting us to explore your beautiful state - travel expenses, meals, and accommodations were provided by Virginia Tourism. Opinions are my own and I would absolutely recommend visiting this beautiful state.  We had such a wonderful time!

Molly's Scallion Pancake Challah

We are having another quiet weekend around these parts, complete with lots of lounging on the couch, and cozy eats. We also just got back from a SUPER fun road trip to Virginia that I can't wait to tell you about, spoiler alert - we ate a lot of good food and saw a lot of beautiful things, and Arlo is an excellent road trip companion - but after almost a week on the road, I was ready to get back to my own kitchen. This weekend's dreary weather really kicked me into action. I made baked pasta with bolognese for dinner last night, and then not so accidentally fell asleep on the couch at about 9:30. This is my 30s guys, what can I do? I love an early bedtime.

Another great thing about getting back from the road was that I have been cooking from the killer new fall cookbooks that have been stacking up on my coffee table. If you've been on the internet lately, I'm sure you've heard of the gorgeous book, Molly on the Range, by my my pal Molly Yeh, creator of the award-winning blog My Name is Yeh. It is so delightful, and so very Molly. From the fun recipes that reflect her Chinese-Jewish heritage to the adorable illustrations, thoughtful writing, and beautiful minimal photography, this book is a perfect extension of the work that Molly does on her blog and such a delight to flip through!

Molly said this recipe is basically her in bread form - Chinese, Jewish and a pretty doughy. We attacked the warm loaf with our hands and ate about half of it in one go, then enjoyed the rest with eggs for breakfast which I think would be very Molly approved. The recipe only calls for a 1/2 recipe of dough, but I figured I could find a home for a second loaf of challah so I went for it and made the whole recipe - half plain and half scallion. You should too! Molly also gives lots of other fun suggestions of what you can do with challah dough in the book. It also calls for sprinkling the dough with sesame seeds, but I was out when I went to make this...it is much cuter with sesame seeds on top :)

SCALLION PANCAKE CHALLAH FROM MOLLY ON THE RANGE

makes one loaf

from Molly on the Range

1/2 recipe dough from Basic Challah (recipe follows), made through the first rising

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

3 scallions, minced

Kosher salt and black pepper

Crushed red pepper

Egg wash: 1 large egg yolk, beaten with

1 tablespoon water

Toasted sesame seeds

 Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and roll each part into a 12-inch log. Gently flatten each log so that it is about 3 inches wide. Brush each with sesame oil and sprinkle with scallions, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Roll the logs up lengthwise like a jelly roll and pinch the seams to seal. Lay the logs seam side down next to one another and pinch them together at one end. Then braid the logs and pinch them at the other end. Place the loaf on the lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

 Brush the loaf with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds and black pepper.

Bake until the loaf is golden brown and has an internal temperature of 190ºF. Begin checking for doneness at 28 minutes. Let cool slightly and enjoy.

MOLLY'S BASIC CHALLAH

from Molly on the Range

Makes 2 loaves

4 ½ teaspoons (2 envelopes)

active dry yeast

1 ½ cups warm water

1 teaspoon plus ¼ cup sugar

6 ½ cups flour, plus more for dusting (or sub in up to 2½ cups whole wheat flour)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 large eggs

⅔ cup flavorless oil

¼ cup additional sweetener: sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses

Egg wash: 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the flour, salt, and remaining ¼ cup sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and additional sweetener.

When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with the dough hook until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough, 7 to 10 minutes, adding more white flour as necessary (but resist any urge to add too much!).

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. (It will take slightly longer if you’re using whole wheat flour.) Alternatively, you can stick it in the refrigerator overnight and then let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour before shaping.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and, working with half of the dough at a time (keeping the other half covered), pat the dough out into a long rectangle, roughly 3 inches by 12 inches (this doesn’t need to be exact). From this, cut 3 long and skinny rectangles and roll them out a bit to get 3 long snakes. Pinch them together at one end and then braid the snakes and pinch them at the other end. Transfer the loaf to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining half of the dough. Let them rise, covered, at room temperature for 30 minutes.Preheat the oven to 375º F.

Brush the loaves with a thin even layer of egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until the loaves are golden brown and have an internal temperature of 190ºF. Begin checking for doneness at 28 minutes.

Let the loaves cool until they’re jusssst cool enough that they won’t burn your mouth, and then enjoy with lots of butter.